Multimedia editing method using templates describing common logic structure, layout, and physical operation

1. A multimedia editing apparatus comprising: template managing means for managing a template, said template describing therein a static logic structure, a static layout structure, and a physical operation which is common to a diversity of multimedia content; material managing means for managing material information, said material information comprising one or more texts, photos, or videos; template operating means for combining a template extracted from the template managing means with material information extracted from the material managing means; logic structure synthesizing means for synthesizing the static logic structure and the material information to provide a specific content logic structure; layout structure synthesizing means for synthesizing the static layout structure and the material information to provide a specific content layout structure; and physical operation determining means for determining, based on the specific content logic structure, which information of material information the physical operation in the template should use.

2. A multimedia editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said layout structure synthesizing means synthesizes a layout of specific content by combining material information with a layout structure in a template visually; and the logic structure synthesizing means synthesizes a logic structure of specific content by combining a logic structure in the template with the material information based on a synthesized layout structure.

3. A multimedia editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said logic structure synthesizing means synthesizes a logic structure of specific content by directly combining a logic structure in a template with material information; and the layout structure synthesizing means synthesizes a layout of specific content by combining a layout structure in the template with the material information based on a synthesized logic structure.

4. A multimedia editing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a restrictive condition checking means for checking whether the material information extracted from the material managing means satisfies a restrictive condition described in a template and preventing the information material from being combined when the material information does not satisfy the restrictive condition.

5. A multimedia editing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a material selecting means for searching only such material information as to satisfy a restrictive condition described in a template from the material managing means and selecting material information to be actually combined with the template from searched material information.

6. A multimedia editing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the material selecting means searches only such information as to satisfy a restrictive condition described in a template and as to have the same attribute as already used material information and selects material information to be actually combined with the template from searched material information.

7. A multimedia editing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the template operating means combines a diversity of templates simultaneously with the same material information, the diversity of templates having a common logic structure, different layout structures, and different physical operations such that the logic structure synthesizing means synthesizes the specific content logic structure and the layout structure synthesizing means synthesizes specific content layout structures for each divers template and the physical operation determining means determines physical operations for each diverse template.

8. A multimedia editing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the multimedia editing apparatus prepares an electronic catalog having a diversity of display modes and utilization modes by combining freely three types of templates, a first template being a searching type template in which a set of items is handled as a logic structure and an operation for searching an item satisfying a search condition from the set of items and displaying the searched item is described, a second template being a presenting type template in which an operation for interactively reproducing only a specific item is described, and a third template being a discovering type template in which an operation for reproducing other multimedia content tied to an item in a set of items is described.

9. A multimedia editing method comprising the steps of: managing a template and material information, the template describing therein a static logic structure, a static layout structure, and a physical operation which is common to a diversity of multimedia content, the material information comprising one or more texts, photos, or videos; combining the material information with a template managed in the managing step; synthesizing, during the combining operation, the material information with the static logic structure in the template and synthesizing the material information with the static layout structure in the template to respectively provide a specific content logic structure and a specific content layout structure; and determining, based on the specific content logic structure, which information of material information a physical operation in the template should use.

10. A multimedia editing method according to claim 4, wherein in the synthesizing step, a layout structure in a template is visually displayed, and material information selected from visually displayed material information is combined with a variable portion of the layout structure, so that a layout of specific content is synthesized; a logic structure in the template is logically tied to the material information based on the synthesized result of the layout structure, so that a logic structure of specific content is synthesized.

11. A multimedia editing method according to claim 9, wherein in the synthesizing step, material information is directly combined with a logic structure in a template, so that a logic structure of specific content is synthesized; and a layout structure in the template is combined with the material information based on the synthesized logic structure, so that a layout of specific content is synthesized.

12. A multimedia editing method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein in the combining step, whether material information selected to be combined with a template satisfies a restrictive condition described in the template is checked; and if the material information does not satisfy the restrictive condition, the material information is prevented from being combined.

13. A multimedia editing method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein in the combining step, only such material information as to satisfy a restrictive condition described in a template is searched; and material information to be actually combined with the template is selected from the searched material information.

14. A multimedia editing method according to claim 13, wherein only such material information as to satisfy a restrictive condition described in a template and as to have the same attribute as already used material information is searched; and material information to be actually combined with the template is selected from the searched material information.

15. A multimedia editing method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein in the combining step, a diversity of templates are combined with the same material information simultaneously, the diversity of templates having a common logic structure, different layout structures, and different physical operations such that the specific content logic structure is synthesized, specific content layout structures for each diverse template is synthesized and physical operations for each diverse template is determined.

16. A multimedia editing method according to claim 15, wherein the multimedia editing method comprises the step of preparing an electronic catalog having a diversity of display modes and utilization modes by combining freely three types of templates, a first template being a searching type template in which a set of items is handled as a logic structure and an operation for searching an item satisfying a search condition from the set of items and displaying the searched item is described, a second template being a presenting type template in which an operation for interactively reproducing only a specific item is described, and a third template being a discovering type template in which an operation for reproducing other multimedia content tied to an item in a set of items is described.